BlackBerry OS 10.2 rollout starting this week

Whoa and whoa. As if BBM wasn't enough to make this week crazy, BlackBerry has announced that they will be starting the OS 10.2 rollout this week as well. The details are still a bit sparse but it looks like the wait will soon be over for many users.

There's no word on exact dates or carriers just yet - so this is what we have to go by:

Africa: Starting this week

Asia Pacific: Starting this week

Canada: Starting this week

Europe: Starting this week

Latin America: Starting in November

Middle East: Starting this week

US: Starting this winter

We're crossing our fingers that everything goes smoothly and there isn't too much waiting involved (we're looking at you US carriers). As a refresher, here's the full list of what's new in OS 10.2 so you can start getting excited.

When the update is available on your carrier you should see a notification or you can check manually under Settings > Software Updates.

Be sure to drop a comment with your carrier if you do get an update.

Press Release

BlackBerry OS 10.2 Begins Roll Out

More Reasons to Love your BlackBerry 10 Smartphone

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - October 23, 2013) - BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY)(TSX: BB) today announced that BlackBerry® 10 OS version 10.2 will begin rolling out to customers starting this week through their carriers in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, with other countries to follow. The update will be available for the BlackBerry® Z10, BlackBerry® Q10 and BlackBerry® Q5 smartphones.

BlackBerry OS 10.2 introduces new features that will help you be more productive and stay better connected. It includes hundreds of new refinements that make the things you do every day faster and easier. Here are just some of the new features you're going to love in BlackBerry OS 10.2:

Priority Hub

Keep your important conversations closer than ever with the new BlackBerry® Priority Hub. Always at your fingertips, Priority Hub learns what conversations are most important to you and automatically puts those messages at the top of your inbox, helping you to stay focused on the most important items. The new attachment view helps you find files and documents across your messaging accounts and within specific message threads.

BBM Video with Natural Sound

BBM™ Video has always allowed you to have a live face-to-face conversation. Now, with BlackBerry® Natural Sound, BBM Video and Voice conversations between BlackBerry 10 smartphones sound more natural and realistic. It's the next best thing to being in the same room. BlackBerry Natural Sound captures a wider sound spectrum, so you can hear subtle nuances that are lost in most cellular calls.

Instant Previews of BBM, SMS and Email from any app

BBM, SMS and E-mail messages now find you no matter what you are doing on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Email, BBM and SMS message previews now appear in any app - you can even respond to your BBM or SMS messages in any app, or go to the BlackBerry Hub with a single swipe to respond to your email. Perfect for keeping the conversation going while you browse the web, watch a video, or use other apps. Of course, you can tailor notifications to the way you work to ensure you're only notified as much as you want to be.

BlackBerry Keyboard

The smartphone keyboard that knows your next move just got even smarter. With personalized next word suggestion, auto-correction, and the distinctive BlackBerry keyboard layout, we've built this keyboard to help you have conversations with speed and accuracy. And on the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Z30, improved audio feedback with distinct tones for specific keys like backspace and shift help you type more confidently because you'll have more reassurance you've hit the right key.

Copy and Paste Enhancements

Copy and paste just got easier. BlackBerry 10.2 gives you more precise cursor control and text selection is now easier. Once you select text, a pop-up menu gives you editing options and direct sharing with BBM, Facebook and Twitter - so you can quickly copy, paste and share.

Faster, Easier Sharing

BlackBerry 10.2 learns how you share and who you share with, helping you reduce the number of steps and amount of time it takes to get your files, photos, or documents to where they need to go. Touching "share" in any app provides suggestions on who and how to share your files based on who you've shared with in the past, and the feature only gets smarter the more you use it.

Lock Screen Notifications

When the red light on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone starts blinking, you don't have to unlock the phone to see your message. Take a peek at the latest email, text, BBM, or notification right from the lock screen to see if that's the message you've been waiting for or one that can wait a while. You can customize which accounts appear on the lock screen and scroll over the icons to display the sender and subject line.

Reply Now

Reply Now lets you respond to incoming phone calls, even when it's not a good time to answer the phone. Easily send a response through BBM, SMS or email - choose from a list of standard automated responses or respond with a personalized note. Perfect for ensuring that important contacts are always given your attention.

Calendar Enhancements

BlackBerry Calendar now comes with an 'I'm running late' function so you can instantly let meeting participants know if you'll be late. You can even specify a new time in your notification. A redesigned interface makes adding an event easier, so managing your time is simpler.

For more information about BlackBerry 10, visit www.blackberry.com/blackberry10OS.

ahh bro, judging from your name, you are 27 or 28yrs old, you mad bro that I'm older and wiser and call out lame pathetic first posts? being that old and seeing your profile, you make the internet stupider with first comments and sticking up for the stupid pathetic first posters

It is absurd that it takes so long. I just don't get why Apple is able to control their releases...it's not like they have superior quality control. Every major iOS release has required an immediate fix for a major security flaw.

You would think the carriers would push the Apple competitors (BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and Android to a lesser extent) onto their customers to try and get back some of the control Apple is able to demand. Competition would only help the carriers, yet they seem to do everything they can to minimize the competition to just two companies (Apple and Samsung).

Agreed with what some others have said: Apple can demand it because they more or less control the market place with the carriers in their pockets. Look at the agreements the carriers have to sign(buying X number of product a year, guaranteed), I would bet in their contracts it states Apple has to control the software rollout. Either that or the carriers let Apple do the testing, so they do it all in house and don't have to send anything to the carriers to begin with.

Bbry should make a $99 media player device like an ipod touch. Seriously, I now have wifi at work, at home, at the coffee shop I go... if everyone could just use bbm for messaging, voice and video, we wouldn't have to pay for such things as international texting, callerid...

Do you remember the Microsoft Zune? BBRY would get murdered if they tried that. Apple spent countless dollars to promote the ipod and it's because of the ipod that they're in the position they currently are. Ain't nobody going to stop that !

No I'm thinking something new. You know those data usb devices that you plug into laptop? What if you had your 99$ qnx device bridge thru that? Zune and ipod were never capable of that. Bbry already bridged the Playbook. Carriers weren't to happy with that. ATT even blocked the functionality.

The device alone is capable of doing that. There'd be little point to creating a device similar to what apphell did to the itouch. It wouldn't succeed. All BlackBerry needs to do is create smart accessories. Like a dock to use between a z10, z30 and PlayBook: the inputs for usb and hdmi are in the same place. It would be nice to have one dock for all three devices.

The other comment was right: zune was a waste of microsoft's money. Anything like that by BlackBerry would effectively kill them off.

Docking solutions will all be soft. The Z30 has wireless charging. It can just as easily dock using BT. If the TV has BT there is no need for the HDMI cable. A BT keyboard and mouse or touchpad and the computer is no longer needed as a connecting agent. Run cloud-based programmes and you don't even need much storage. That is what mobile computing is about.

I don't know, maybe all of your friends are rich, but I don't have a single friend who has a tv that supports that. I have a micro-HDMI cable that I keep in my car, I use that to connect my phone to their TV's. Nobody has a "smart" tv that I know, and I know I wouldn't be able to afford one anytime soon...

I remember Microsoft Zune. That device, if properly marketed and featured, would have taken out the iPod. I had both a first gen Zune and an early gen iPod, and the Zune lasted longer, had a far better UI, better battery life and took any number of hard shots.

An inexpensive device with an OS that is BBM centric with messaging, voice and video and uses wifi. All your communications on a small, inexpensive, portable device and carrier independant. In fact, no carrier required. Maybe.

This is a great idea!!! I read Crackberry commnets/forums on a regular basis and it's rare that I see an idea worth commenting on. This one is worth a second thought! Obviously 911 emergency calls are required by the CRTC, but the iPod touch didn't have such issues (I don't think). I think WiFi only devices may be the way of the future. At least until we dumb pipes...which will likely never happen in NA because the carriers have too much power.

BBM became so popular because of the "always on" aspects of it. People could sign out of other messaging clients (email, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, etc...) which made less reliable for important or urgent messages. With BBM, the sender knows that the recipient will get the message quickly almost all the time. The second BBM goes to non cellular devices is when BBM loses that reliability imo.

This will probably became this way, but at least not here in Canada. CRTC are ruling that out. Phone services are considered here as an essential services, whereas they must provide a safe and reliable 911 support all all time.
Today VOIP did not meet that aspect. We still can't get Skype number in Canada, probably because they don't want citizen to switch exclusively to such services, that did not meet minimum expectation.

I'm considering buying a Z10 on eBay for $200 so I can use it essentially as an iPod Touch to go along with my Q10. I also want it to tinker with the OS without totally crashing my main device. I'm curious if BB10 devices will run off of wifi only like my old 9900 does?

The Z10 will....at least mine did. I had it for about a week before actually inserting my sim into it. I wanted to get to know the device before relying on it daily. I used the wifi exclusively and had no issues with the device out side of making calls.

Lol, no need to be such a snob about it. Not everyone is an audiophile, doesn't mean they don't appreciate good music. I give you a challenge, download Neutron Music Player for your BB10 phone and use those nice headphones. Tell me how it sounds. It improves the sound quality from the phone's stock player by a lot.

I am not from the US, but I really pitty you guys over there. Everybody gets 10.2 this week or next month, everybody but the US. "This winter" could also mean you'll have to wait until 2014 to get the update. I really, really don't understand what's the problem with the carriers over there. Seriously, the rest of the world gets the update more or less in time, just the US is waaaaay behind.

And I guess that Sony, HTC, LG, etc are also too big to ignore? Ignorant comment. This has nothing to do with the carriers, and it has to do with BlackBerry making it available to them. Why do you think that the 10.2 rollout is almost identical to the launch of BB10. BB is staggering the releases intentionally which is why Asia got it first, then Europe, NEA, and Canada, then latin America and then the US. US also unfortunately has Verizon and Sprint with Albatross CDMA networks that require special hardware to support and BlackBerry doesn't have the balls to release to AT&T and T-Mobile first without having product/software available for the Verizon and Sprint so as not to offend them. They are probably working out the bugs elsewhere and want to make sure that they don't have another reboot debacle like they had with the BB10 launch devices.

Also this inability of BlackBerry to be able to properly support the USA markets more unique requirements just again shows that the company can't walk and chew gum at the same time. They obviously don't have the people and/or the talent (and I think both given the recent history of debacles out of Waterloo) to support a global release or maintenance of a product.

The Verizon Z10 didn't get FCC approval until March 2013, and even thought the T-Mobile and AT&T version did get approved in Dec 2012/January 2013, so the entire US launch was held up until the Verizon model cleared, and low and behold they also got a white exclusive. Verizon and Sprint require different versions of the phone than most of the rest of the world uses. This obviously shows that the Verizon model was the last to be developed and therefore is behind in software development too because the radio stacks, etc, will be different. AT&T and T-Mobile can use the same devices developed for Canadian carriers. BlackBerry has obviously worked out deals with Verizon, and likely now Sprint since they will be carrying the Z30, that they won't release to the AT&T or T-Mobile versions until they have the others ready and FCC Approved. BlackBerry would have made this deal, not AT&T or T-Mobile, who I'm sure would love to have a three month head start on selling a new device over two of their competitors, but BlackBerry has made a decision of #BB10.2USA4None apparently until they can release the Z30 and BB10.2 for all.

So yes this is a conscience decision by BlackBerry to work out a deal of nothing for the US until all the big four carriers can be on level playing field.

Oh please don't kid yourself with your unsubstantiated argument. Tell me, what has BlackBerry got to benefit from withholding simultaneous release of the OS updates? Is it financially beneficial to BlackBerry, eh?
US carriers are the culprit for this shenanigan. Even African carriers are able to step up to plate, despite the infrastructural problems they have in that continent.
If the US carriers want to rectify this issue, they can with no sweat. Your US carriers are playing the ALMIGHTY and ought to be ashamed of themselves. BlackBerry is not a punching bag simply because times are rough.
Travel the world and become enlightened. The USA is no longer the "be it and end all".

Ahhh. There it is! Gotta love how the (somewhat) latent anti-US sentiment occasionally seeps through, while commenting on a tech blog site. I assume you're responding to Inichols, so I have to ask - did you not fully understand his post?

Are you suggesting that the roll-out is not intentionally staggered by BlackBerry (for whatever reason)? Also, did you miss his mention of US carrier-specific requirements, with which BlackBerry must contend? That's not blaming BlackBerry, it's a fact. It may very well be both financially and reputationally beneficial to avoid releasing the OS to one US carrier before the other.

The poster did take a swipe at BlackBerry and indirectly at Waterloo/Canada, but don't you kid yourself. Perhaps the most prevalent unsubstantiated argument on this topic involves the notion of "shenanigans" in play. Here's a fact:
I never received the MR update,but my Verizon issued Z10 never had most of the 10.1 issues this release was intended to cure. For that matter, the original 10.0 had few of the issues expressed by others. So while you may think the USA is no longer the be it and end all [sic], perhaps the US carriers are - with regard to quality assurance. And perhaps the inability to meet these known superior US carrier standards vs passing the sieve-like quality checkpoints of their northern counterparts SHOULD be blamed on BlackBerry and its labor force at this point. ;-)

Feel sorry for our US friends. Seriously, why does it take the most "advanced" country a significant time to roll out these OS updates compared to others? Makes me wonder if there are NSA / homeland security requirements that the US carriers have to implement with their bloatware to meet certain obligations ...

Not surprising US is last, but I was hoping to see more for 10.2 like having my personalized ringtone/notifications for contacts, to me that's even more important than lockscreen notifications etc. If my ringtone are functional I no longer have to take the phone off my hip or run across the room to see if it's the message I'm waiting for. But I'll take this for now, atleast it's progress.

It's beyond frustrating for my American friends I'm sure. BB should really just unlock all US phones for free and do OTA updates from Canada similar to the PlayBook updates and the US carriers can take as long as they please or not bother.

Any word from those that are running the leaks if the side loaded Netflix I got from the forums for 10.1 running without a Debug token will keep working? It's the only side loaded program I actually use..

+1 The US knife is pushing itself deeper and deeper. They must be wondering "why won't BlackBerry die". They keep saying its dead for years now walking around with their knives stuck in it. Reassuring everyone the products are no good and "don't buy" and buggy and clunky. And still the only smartphone maker to come up with a whole new OS recently. This year it is in the top 100 innovators list. Tut Tut Tut North America.

Did the US ever receive the MR release? I don't recall that. I also don't recall ever having MANY of the 10.0 or 10.1 issues MR was supposed to cure. Despite the truly annoying delays with the OS update releases and conspiracy theories as to why, perhaps Verizon (for example) is getting it right by holding up the release. Let's just see how this release plays out. Equally annoying will be the 10.2-only apps released in the interim, but I prefer that 10.2 be as polished as possible when released. That's my spin and I'm sticking with it.

None of this "Coming this week" stuff please. Give me an exact date otherwise I expect this to be delayed as usual. Even though I've been using a leaked version I'm still excited for the official release.

Once again, no US love...... dead last.
No wonder BlackBerry has a terrible US influx of users wanting their product. Why buy blackberry first, when they put Americans last?
They want to sell well in the United States, US should have had the roll out first. Thank goodness for leaks!

AGREED and I was born and raised in the US. I had to travel to 3 AT&T stores to buy a Z10 on the day of its release because they had none in stock and it wasn't due to selling them out. This would never happen with a iPhone release which is a American company. The world doesn't revolve around the US. As stated WAKE UP Americans!!!

You mean CGI, that company with the checkered past? The one that's being blamed for the whole computer glitch? It's been determined that the software code and the basic infrastructure of the site's design is at the root of the problem, which is keeping Americans from registering.
(Side note - the company's owner is an old college pal of Michelle's who got a no-bid contract)

Though I don't blame Canada. Nor do I think they're 'sticking it to us' with the delay of 10.2. I just got my Z10 a week ago, as an Insurance claim replacement for my Torch 9800, and being an older less techie person, it was tough to get used to not having my hard keyboard and trackball, but I'm learning. My justification in sticking with BB, was "It's the closest thing to an American company we have left!" - Solidarity with my neighbors to the North!

About the only thing I miss at this point, is the 'convenience key', but I'll adapt. ;-)

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